Blog Saint Louis

Blog Saint Louis
This Isn't Your Father's Jerry Berger

Saturday, September 27, 2003

Delores Goes Political

Yo, mainstream news media, where are you? President George Bush came clean about Iraq's noninvolvement in the 9/11 bombing. I'm sure viewers would eat it up. What's the hold-up?
I mean, when President Clinton came clean about the Monica Lewisky sex scandal, you all were over it. I guess a disingenuous declaration of war isn't as newsworthy as a commander in chief's infidelity. Oh, you all also dropped the ball when the only weapons of mass destruction in Iraq were the ones that the U.S. was sending over there. And that's the Unfair and Unbalanced News of the Week.

posted by archpundit | 9/27/2003 - [Link] - Comments ()

Just Post the Notice/But CityView Is Coming

In an inane situation where the Board of Alderman met without public notice, it would appear everyone is spending more time on blaming others instead of tacking up a sheet of paper.

On the bonus side, CityView is an innovative management solution to holding departments accountable for service provision.

posted by archpundit | 9/27/2003 - [Link] - Comments ()

Haas Files: Internal Language

Haas:

the chief operating officer ms. herndon is referring to is karen marsal of alvarez & marsal; i've also heard reports of her being abusive to employees; word is that she is actually running the district, and personally chose larry hutchins' daughter as our director of curriculum, our highest academic officer, even tho she would not seem appropriately qualified for it; another downside of this appointment is that it seems to be compromising the fine work that larry has always done and is still trying to do for us. billhaas

Herndon:

"Ladies and Gentlemen of the Board, my name is Helen Louise Herndon. I am a product of the St. Louis Public Schools. I am a 20-year employee of the St. Louis Public Schools, and I am a taxpayer for the St. Louis Public Schools.

At the beginning, I was in favor of the management team and had hoped they could make us fiscally sound and root out any graft, greed and corruption. My favor and hopes were short-lived.

Mr. Roberti wrote the employees at the onset of the Reduction in Force. He assured us we would be treated with respect and dignity. Alas, that did not take place. No respect was given to the time-honored longevity rule. At the 11th hour, among clerical staff, titles of positions were changed to protect those with lesser seniority and sometimes with lesser abilities and competency. Such actions proved objectivity, respect, and dignity took a back seat to favoritism and gross incompetency, causing in many cases havoc and disarray.

It is not too late for the honorable members of the Board to revisit the
cuts and displacements which took place and to restore honesty, justice, and dignity.

In another vein, I would like to address the issue of the Acting
Superintendent not being certified. This I feel is inconsequential. What concerns me more is that the district is inundated with reports that our new Acting Superintendent and Chief Operating Officer use such vulgar and foul language as to embarrass many of our administrators and those within hearing. Once again, if true, it shows a lack of respect for one's fellow man.

We are not a business. We are not the military; we are an educational
organization focused on children and families. We have policies which restrain the use of foul language. No child should be offended or assaulted if he or she should pass by the leadership of a school district. Certification is not necessary on a temporary basis, but good, clean English usage is. More importantly, genuine respect for one's fellow man should rule all conversations or discussions.

How can we promote respect and dignity unless leadership models it?

We are at a crossroads, not only here in St. Louis, but in public school
education nationally. I fear, however, that we have allowed our school
district to lead the way in the destruction of the moral fiber necessary to achieve sound, quality education. We have lost our moral compass in the way employees are treated, in the way language is used or abused, and in the use or misuse of public funding.

The pioneers of public school education would be chagrined to see our
contamination of a precious commodity, the public school education of America's children.

It is up to you, the men and women of the Board, to restore self-respect
to our district, to give priority to respect for employees, parents and
children, and overall respect for one's fellow man. Such respect is based on honesty, integrity, justice and dignity. We have a long way to go, and only you can lead the way."

posted by archpundit | 9/27/2003 - [Link] - Comments ()

Friday, September 26, 2003

Charter School Policy

The other issue to be addressed by the Board that I didn't mention was a Charter School policy. Up until Tuesday's meeting, charter school proposals were examined on an ad hoc basis. Amy Hilgemann proposed and the Board approved, making a Charter School policy to ensure that any proposals before the Board are evaluated according to a set of standards.

This also means that groups pitching a charter to the SLPS Board will know what criteria they have to meet.

In other news, the Board is setting a cell phone usage policy.

In the above article, the outsourcing of payroll and benefits is also being introduced. In another article, the District may repeal site-based management. The issue here is that site based management relies heavily upon properly trained principals. Currently, while many principals are very good, their abilities vary a great deal. In addition, few have the time or ability to deal with very specific requirements of data analysis under NCLB. Until those issues can be dealt with, there is little benefit to the system.

Site based management has gone a long way to creating the mish-mash of curriculum that the SLPS has operated under and this creates a significant problem in a system with high mobility rates.

posted by archpundit | 9/26/2003 - [Link] - Comments ()

SLPS Audit

In a fit of cynicism, I failed to relay two important aspects to Tuesday's Board meeting. The first was the State Audit team gave a quick presentation outlining their plan. Most importantly, they are looking for public input. If you have some concerns over how the SLPS has or is operating, contact the Auditors office at

moaudit@mail.auditor.state.mo.us

Or Call

1-800-347-8597

Or go to a web form

Web Form

Or Office of the State Auditor, P.O. Box 869, Jefferson City, MO 65102

Each method is confidential by law, though obviously some methods are more secure than others.

So if one were to have some particular item of interest that you think the auditors might miss--send them the information. I have a couple e-mails I'm working on myself.

posted by archpundit | 9/26/2003 - [Link] - Comments ()

Steve Stoll's Web Site

Steve Stoll has his web site up and running. And even a blog---click the Journal link for it to pop-up. Only one entry so far, but I'm promised more is coming.

Steve Stoll is a good guy with a strong education record. I'll be supporting someone else in the race due to differences on some social issues and the sort, but Stoll would be a good Congressman. It's a good political web site as well. Two key elements are the web log and an interactive area for questions. Now he just needs an on-line donation link!

posted by archpundit | 9/26/2003 - [Link] - Comments ()

Wednesday, September 24, 2003

50,000 Hits

Thanks, looks like the 50,000 hit came from ? We'll know in a bit. But pretty amazing for being up just over a year and being largely centered on state and local politics.

posted by archpundit | 9/24/2003 - [Link] - Comments ()

Board Meeting: Blah, Blah, Blah

The primary event of any interest was which of the three Assistant Superintendents got the loudest boos during their presentation to the Board. Larry Hutchins won by a mile. Flieg in second and Krues (sp?--not Rudy Crew) in third. Flieg did an effective job at starting off by deflecting the boos with a laugh.

One forcible removal. Kudos to security for not exacerbating a couple different situations.

Lot's of heckling.

Two crazy board members. One amusing, one in need of help.

Not much substance.

Jake Wagman wanders a lot.

I slide down in my seat towards the back. It really isn't fun without the large bank of administrative employees anymore.

posted by archpundit | 9/24/2003 - [Link] - Comments ()

Tuesday, September 23, 2003